CBS News
Angelina Fernandez was just 11 years old when she walked into a crime scene that would change her life forever.
crime scene
Worcester Superior Court
Angelina recalled seeing her mother in agony, her mother’s fiancé Andrew Wagner on the floor and blood everywhere.
What happened to Andrew Wagner?
Worcester Superior Court
Stephanie Fernandes was taken to the Worcester Police Department on the night of May 7, 2014 and interviewed for approximately three hours.
Andrew Wagner enters the lives of Angelina and her mother
Rena Johnson
Angelina Fernandez was 6 years old when Andrew Wagner met her mother Stephanie in 2009.
A quick romance
Maura Tansley/The Defense Team
Stephanie Fernandes and Andrew Wagner moved in together almost immediately and eventually became engaged. They were together for five years.
family ties
Maura Tansley/The Defense Team
Stephanie Fernandes, her daughter, and Andrew Wagner went on vacation. Angelina said she and Wagner will watch “Criminal Minds” together.
Romance turns to anger
Maura Tansley/The Defense Team
Angelina said she overheard her mother and Andrew Wagner arguing a lot and at one point confronted her mother about it.
A girl’s memory
CBS News
In an interview with “48 Hours,” Angelina Fernandez, 20, recalled Andrew Wagner trying to headbutt her mother on several occasions.
Obsessive to dangerous
Worcester Superior Court
Stephanie Fernandes said Andrew Wagner would get jealous and threaten to kill her if she didn’t listen to him.
tools
Worcester Superior Court
On May 7, 2014, Andrew Wagner and Stephanie Fernandes got into another fight. This time, only one of them survived. An autopsy report would later reveal that Wagner died of a stab wound to the neck.
Charged with first degree murder
Maura Tansley/The Defense Team
Stephanie Fernandes would later be arrested and charged with first-degree murder in her fiance’s death.
Murder or self-defense?
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Stephanie Fernandes said the night Andrew Wagner died, she pinned him to one of his couches and tried to suffocate him. Fernandes grabbed a knife from the kitchen and said “48 hours” as Wagner held the knife in his right hand and tried to hit him in the head. Using a pen, he showed how he held the knife.
trial
CBS News
In June 2022, Stephanie Fernandez’s murder trial began. It was delayed by procedural arguments and the Covid pandemic. While he awaited trial, Fernandez remained under house arrest with a GPS monitor.
Allegations of violence
Worcester Superior Court
Prosecutors presented witnesses who testified that Stephanie Fernandes also had a history of violent outbursts.
Stephanie takes the stand
CBS News
Stephanie Fernandez’s lawyers called her to the stand. He gives an emotional account of what happened that night.
judgment
CBS News
Stephanie Fernandes faces charges of first-degree murder. He was acquitted of murder, but jurors voted to convict him of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.
A family’s call to justice
CBS News
Andrew Wagner’s mother, Melissa Wagner, pictured with her husband Tom and daughter Jillian Cristaldi, spoke in court during Fernandez’s sentencing. He said Stephanie took everything from her son and justice needed to be served
Fernandes was sentenced
Maura Tansley/The Defense Team
In October 2022, Stephanie Fernandes was sentenced to no more than 10 years and no less than eight years in state prison.
patient girl
Angelina Fernandes/Instagram
Angelina Fernandes is now studying to become a forensic psychologist and hopes to work with victims and children in court.
Angelina’s future
Wendy Bergeron
He looks forward to the day when he can be reunited with his mother.